Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a cartridge that can be detachably attached to a main body of the image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a cartridge that can be detachably attached to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as an image forming apparatus) forms an image on a recording material (a recording medium) through an electrophotographic image forming process. Examples of the image forming apparatus include a printer (a laser beam printer, a light emitting diode (LED) printer, and the like), a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a word processor, a multifunction peripheral (multifunction printer) having the functions of these.
Conventional image forming apparatuses that perform the electrophotographic image forming process employ a process cartridge system, in which a cartridge is detachably attached to a main body of the image forming apparatus. The process cartridge system employs a cartridge formed by integrating an electrophotographic photosensitive drum (hereinafter, referred to as a photosensitive drum) and a process unit that processes the photosensitive drum, and thus can facilitate maintenance of the image forming apparatus.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-132039 discusses this type of cartridge. In the cartridge, a toner frame including a toner container that contains toner is coupled to a developer frame that holds a developing unit such as a developing roller. The image forming apparatus has a configuration in which a fixing unit is disposed following a cleaning unit. Accordingly, a cleaning frame is deformed by heat of the fixing unit. Thus, a configuration has been proposed, in which sheet metals as reinforcement members are fixed to both ends within the cleaning frame with small screws, whereby thermal deformation of a portion mounted with a cleaning blade, which is especially important in the cleaning, is prevented. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-132039 proposes a configuration in which the cleaning frame made of resin is locked with a sheet metal or a cleaning blade sheet metal using a small screw via a resin washer, so that the cleaning frame and the sheet metal can slightly slide, when the temperature of the cleaning unit rises.